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Dispersed camping · Arizona

Apache-Sitgreaves National Forests dispersed camping rules

You can camp up to 14 days in any 30 on this forest, anywhere that isn't posted closed. The card below is the whole rule set — every line links the order or page it came from, and all of it was checked on .

14 days in any 30

Order 03-01-26-002 prohibits "camping for more than 14 consecutive days within any 30 day period" on all NFS lands within the Apache-Sitgreaves boundaries (in effect Jun 22, 2026 - Jun 22, 2028). The forests' dispersed-camping guidelines add the move-off rule: "You may camp in a dispersed area for no more than 14 days in a 30-day period. After 14 days of camping on the Forest, you must move off of the Forest for at least 16 days."

Where you can camp

Allowed unless posted

"Dispersed camping is the term used for camping anywhere in the National Forest OUTSIDE of a designated campground" - but "dispersed camping is NOT allowed in the vicinity of developed recreation areas such as campgrounds, picnic areas, or trailheads." The guidelines page frames the allowance as "dispersed camping is allowed in a one-mile perimeter away from campgrounds and 100 feet from any stream." source

Keep your distance

  • 5,280 ft — "Dispersed camping is NOT allowed in the vicinity of developed recreation areas such as campgrounds, picnic areas, or trailheads"; the same page puts the campground buffer at one mile - "dispersed camping is allowed in a one-mile perimeter away from campgrounds." One mile converted: 5,280 ft. source
  • Recommended: 100 ft — "Please place your campsite at least 100 feet from any stream or other water source" - worded as guidance on the dispersed-camping guidelines page, and echoed in the allowance framing ("...and 100 feet from any stream"). Fire rings likewise at least 100 feet from any water source. source
  • Recommended: 300 ft — Stay-close corridor guidance: "keep your campsite within 300 feet from a roadway." Do not drive on meadows to reach a site - use existing roads. source

Roads and vehicle access

Ask the district which roads allow camping

The guidelines page says "Do not drive on meadows to access your camping site. Drive on existing roads to prevent resource damage," but no page read today ties motorized dispersed-camping access to MVUM-designated corridors, and the forests' maps-guides page does not list MVUMs. Ask the district which routes allow off-road parking for camping.

Fires right now

We don't watch this forest's fire orders yet — check its own site before you light anything. Here's what stage 1 and stage 2 mean when an order is up.

Closures and special orders

Rules checked against the pages linked above — the full list is below the card.

Rules change by forest order and posted signage — confirm with the Forest Supervisor's Office, Springerville at (928) 333-6280 before you go.

How to read these rules

Dispersed camping means camping outside a developed campground — no fee, no table, no toilet, no water. You pick an already-used spot, pack out everything you brought, and the rules above are the whole deal you're agreeing to. The stay limit counts the way the card says it counts, not the way it counts on the forest next door: some places count per spot, some across the whole forest, some inside a radius, and moving a short distance often doesn't restart the clock.

Distance rules come in two shapes. Keep-away rules ("at least 100 feet from water") protect the thing you're camping near; stay-close rules ("within 300 feet of the road") keep vehicles on ground that can take them. A line marked recommended on the card is the office's guidance, not an order — the rest are enforceable rules, and a posted sign at the site beats everything on this page.

The motor vehicle use map is the legal answer to "can I drive in there to camp" — if a road isn't on it, that road is closed to your vehicle, and many forests only allow roadside camping along the roads the map marks for it. It's a free PDF; download it before you lose signal.

Fires are a separate rule with a separate clock. Nothing on this page says you can light one — the card's fire line says where that answer lives today. If a fire is allowed when you get there, buy your wood near camp — hauling firewood from home is how tree-killing pests reach new forests, and the BTU chart says what that local bundle is actually worth.

Where these rules come from

Every rule above was read on the forest's own pages and orders on the dates shown — nothing here is borrowed from another forest or an old guidebook. The managing agency is U.S. Forest Service, Southwestern Region (R3).

Before you go